Apparatus for securing a hand-held device to a user

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for attaching a hand-held device to an appendage of a user including a lanyard terminating at each end in a ring, a loop secured to the hand-held device and passing through the rings to provide an adjustable opening into which the appendage, such as the wrist, of the user may be inserted.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a non-provisional application which claims the benefit and filing date of provisional application Ser. No. 61/947,007, filed Mar. 3, 2014, for APPARATUS FOR SECURING A HAND-HELD DEVICE TO A USER.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to attachment devices or apparatus and methods of use thereof and more particularly to an apparatus for attachment to a hand-held device to secure the hand-held device to the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hand-held devices such as clutch purses, glasses cases, cellular phones, pagers, personal digital assistant organizers, cameras and the like are very popular. These devices in many instances, particularly the electronic hand-held devices, are carried by persons in their pockets, purses or bags or clipped to their belts or other clothing. In the process of using and stowing these devices, it is not uncommon that the device slips from the user's hand and drops to the ground, often suffering damage which is expensive to repair and rendering the device inoperable.

Hand-held devices such as the purses and electronic devices above referred to are also subject to loss or theft which may be prevented by attachment to a user. Some hand-held devices are provided with a wrist strap or lanyard that is permanently attached to the device which a user may grip or wrap around their wrist to reduce the likelihood that the device will be lost or dropped. Even if a device is provided with such a wrist strap or lanyard, the user may accidentally release the strap or lanyard from their hand or wrist and as a result the device may be lost or dropped.

It can therefore be seen that a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for securing a hand-held device to a user that is easy to use and will remain attached to the user unless it is intentionally removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an apparatus for detachably securing a hand-held device to a user which includes a lanyard adapted to fit over an appendage of a user with the lanyard terminating at each end thereof in a ring, a loop is secured to the hand-held device and passes through each ring on the lanyard, the loop and the lanyard have opposed portions disposed such that the loop may be moved away from the lanyard to provide an opening which will allow insertion of a user's appendage to be inserted after which the loop is allowed to move toward the appendage of the user to secure the lanyard to the user along with the hand-held device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a clutch purse with the apparatus of the present invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2 illustrates a different clutch purse with a different embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the clutch purse of FIG. 2 attached to the wrist of the user;

FIG. 4 illustrates the clutch purse in a different position on the hand of a user; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the utilization of the apparatus of the present invention with a carrying device or case for an electronic device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The apparatus of the present invention is dimensioned and operates in such a way that after it is attached to the hand-held device, it can be extended so that an appendage of a user such as a hand, finger or wrist may be inserted through an appropriate opening and then allowed to retract to secure the apparatus firmly to the wrist or other appendage of the user thereby securing the hand-held device to the appendage of the user. Although the invention will be described with specific reference to various embodiments attached to a clutch pursue, it should also be recognized that it is readily adaptable and useful with all types of hand-held devices such as cameras, cellphones, personal digital assistant organizers and the like without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Some description will be placed herein showing the device attached to a carrying case which could be generic for utilization with any of the hand-held devices above-referred to other than the purse.

Referring now more specifically to FIG. 1, the apparatus for securing a hand-held device to a user is shown in one embodiment at 10 and this apparatus is attached to a clutch purse 12. The apparatus includes a lanyard 14 which has an outer member 16 that terminates in rings 18 and 20. The lanyard 14 in this embodiment also has an inner member 22 which is permanently attached at points on the outer member 16 displaced from the rings 18 and 20. A continuous loop 24 passes through the rings 18 and 20 and is secured to the top portion 26 of the purse 12. As is illustrated in FIG. 1, the top portion of the purse is looped over and stitched as shown at 28 to provide an opening through which the continuous loop 24 passes. In this construction, the continuous loop 24 may be moved through the opening provided by the folding over and stitching of the top portion 26 of the purse. It should however be understood that the loop 24 instead of being a continuous loop as illustrated, may in fact be such that it is not a continuous loop but rather has ends which are attached removably or permanently to each side of the purse 12 as will be more fully illustrated and discussed hereinbelow. The side of the purse 12 includes a fastener 30 affixed thereto. The complimentary portion of the fastener is shown at 32 and is secured to the continuous loop 24. The functioning of the fastener 30-32 will be described in more detail hereinbelow in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 4.

In operation of the apparatus 10, the portion 34 of the continuous loop 24 may be moved downwardly as viewed in FIG. 1 such that the continuous loop is caused to move through the rings 18 and 20 and thereby increase the diameter D of the inner portion of the combination of the lanyard 14 and the top portion 34 of the loop 24. By increasing diameter D, it will then be relatively simple for the user to extend his or her hand and wrist through the opening thus generated to place the hand-held device 12 on the appropriate appendage such as a wrist of the user. Once that has occurred, the top portion 34 will be released and the weight of the hand-held device moving downwardly will cause the diameter D of the apparatus to decrease to an extent such that the hand-held device 12 is now securely fastened to the wrist of the user. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the hand-held device rests in the hand of the user more discreetly and with less fear of being stolen or dropped.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that when utilizing a clutch purse such as that shown in FIG. 1 with the apparatus attached to the top portion by the overlapping and stitching as above described, that the typical top opening of the purse has now been completely eliminated. As a result, when utilizing the apparatus with a clutch purse as is illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, the clutch purse must be accessed from the side and such is shown by the handle 36 of a zipper which is provided in the side of the clutch purse 12 (the zipper not being shown in this Figure). Alternatively, a zipper or other opening device may be placed immediately below the stitching 28 to allow the purse to be opened from the top.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 2, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the apparatus 10. In this embodiment, the lanyard 38 is constructed of a strap which may be formed of leather, cloth, webbing or the like as may be desired. A decorative chain 41 is attached to the strap and it forms no functional purpose in the operation of the present invention. As is illustrated in FIG. 2, the terminuses 40 and 42 of the strap 38 have a ring 44 and 46, respectively, attached thereto. As is shown in FIG. 2, a continuous loop 48 is secured to the top of a clutch purse 50 by folding over the top of the clutch purse and stitching it as above described to form an opening through which the continuous loop passes. As is illustrated, the continuous loop 48 passes through the rings. The loop 48 is secured to the fastener 52 which is similar to the fastener 30 in FIG. 1 and its complimentary part 32. When the clutch purse 50 is to be secured to the wrist or other appendage of the user, the loop 48 is disengaged from the fastener so that it can be manipulated as above described.

By reference to FIG. 3, the clutch purse 50 is shown attached to the wrist of a user. As is therein illustrated, the loop 48 has the top portion 50 moved to engage the wrist of the user so that the combination of the strap 38 and the top portion 50 of the loop 48 are firmly secured to the wrist of the user. As above described, in order to accomplish this, the top portion 50 of the loop 48 has been moved downwardly as shown in FIG. 2 to enlarge the diameter of the opening generated by the lanyard 38 and the loop 48.

If it is desired, the fastener 52 on the loop 48 may be secured to its complimentary portion 54 (FIG. 3) which will then cause the purse 50 to be pulled upwardly toward the wrist of the user and into the hand of the user as more specifically shown in FIG. 4.

As above indicated, the apparatus of the present invention may also be attached to many other types of hand-held devices other than purses, for example, such as glasses cases, cameras, cellphones, personal digital assistant organizers and the like. By reference now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a carrying case 52 which may be any carrying case that may be utilized for holding a cellphone, smart phone, camera, a personal digital assistant organizer or the like and is intended only to be representative as a generic carrying case for any of these hand-held devices and therefore may take various configurations depending upon the hand-held device involved. The apparatus of the present invention as above described may be affixed to attaching loops such as shown at 54 and 56 which are secured to the exterior of the carrying case 52. The apparatus of the present invention is illustrated only at the terminal points of a loop 58 which has appropriate attachment mechanisms such as shown at 60 and 62 to engage the mechanisms 54 and 56. Although as illustrated in FIG. 5, the loop 58 would be removably detachable, it should be understood that it may be permanently attached to the carrying case 52 if such is desired. Alternatively the attachment apparatus of the present invention may be secured directly to the hand-held device as opposed to a carrying case for the device. The loop 58 is also illustrated as a beaded member which provides the additional indication that the apparatus of the present invention may indeed be decorative as well as utilitarian even though in FIGS. 1 through 4 the apparatus is shown in the form of a chain or strap or the combination of a strap and a chain. The remainder of the apparatus of the present invention as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4 is not shown in FIG. 5, but it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the lanyard with the rings through which the loop 58 would pass would also be utilized and it would function in the manner as above described.

There has thus been disclosed an apparatus for securing a hand-held device to a predetermined appendage of a user such as the wrist for the purpose of preventing loss, theft or the dropping of the hand-held device. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for detachably securing a hand-held device to a user comprising: a lanyard configured and dimensioned to fit over a predetermined appendage of a user, said lanyard terminating at each end thereof in a ring; a loop secured to said hand-held device and passing through each ring, said loop and said lanyard having opposed portions disposed such that said loop may be moved away from said lanyard to provide an opening of larger area through which said predetermined appendage of the user can be inserted after which said loop moves toward said predetermined appendage of the user to secure the lanyard to the user along with the hand-held device.
 2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said loop is continuous and passes through an opening provided in said hand-held device.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the hand-held device is a purse and said opening in said hand-held device is provided by a fold in the top of said purse which closes the top of said purse.
 4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said purse includes an access on the side thereof.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 which further includes a fastener on said loop and a complementary member to said fastener on said hand-held device so that when said fastener is secured to said complementary member, the hand-held device is positioned more snugly in the hand of the user.
 6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said hand-held device is a carrying case for receiving a camera, cellphone, smart phone, personal digital assistant or other similar device. 